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Feb 24, 2012

NPR President Gary Knell has restructured the news organization's top ranks, elevating digital chief Kinsey Wilson to executive v.p. and chief content officer, and appointing Margaret Low Smith as senior v.p. of news, a job she took on an interim basis last year.

When Wilson joined NPR as senior v.p. and general manager of digital media in 2008, the position was parallel to the senior news exec post then held by Ellen Weiss. Knell's restructuring elevates Wilson in NPR's organization chart to supervise all of NPR's content areas — news, programming and digital media.

"In Kinsey and Margaret, we have two journalists, strategists and leaders with a keen understanding of the craft that distinguishes NPR — and how we continue to innovate and evolve," Knell said in a news release.

In an interview with NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik, Knell described his objective to create "a unified and strategic approach" to providing news, cultural programming and other content across radio, online and mobile platforms, according to Mark Memmott, blogger/reporter for NPR's The Two Way. "Radio is not going away, radio is going everywhere," Knell reportedly said.

Additional changes in NPR's executive ranks to take effect immediately:

Eric Nuzum, acting v.p. of programming, takes the job permanently, succeeding Smith as she officially takes over as news chief;

Keith Woods, v.p. of diversity in news and operations, expands his collaborative work with NPR stations to bring greater diversity to public radio's audiences. He now reports directly to Knell.

Joyce McDonald, v.p. for membership and audience partnership, also directly reports to Knell.

Knell adopted the new reporting structure for Woods and McDonald to ensure that he has "a direct line into NPR's work with its community of stations."